Family First favour saying sorry

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Likely Senate powerbroker Family First wants a federal government apology for the stolen generations of Aborigines removed as children from their families.

Family First president Andrea Mason, Australia's first ever female indigenous party leader, said her party believed strongly in the message of reconciliation and saying sorry.

"I think there is a cobweb, there is a veil over our country ... in terms of this unresolved issue," Ms Mason told ABC radio.

"I think that there will be a significant change in the way we perceive ourselves and our relationships with each other when there is an apology made to the stolen generations.

"I really believe that."

With the increasing likelihood Family First will hold the balance of power in the Senate, it remains unclear whether the party would use the stolen generations issue as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the government.

Likely to hold exactly half of the seats in the Senate, the coalition is looking to pass a raft of controversial measures on industrial relations, the sale of Telstra and media ownership laws, but may need Family First's help.

Ms Mason said the party would be looking at the issue once the new parliament was formed.

Family First is also in favour of more support for families in immigration detention centres and won't support any moves to legalise same-sex marriages.